Hubbys car just failed MOT..............help!

LoopyLinz

Ok DH just took his car for MOT and it failed. We are in NI so not to sure if things operate slightly differently here.

Firstly he just came in, chucked the form at me and said..........'Uhhhh failed, something about sills and brake pipes!' Loads of use!

Hoping someone will be able to explain. The form says..........

408 - Chassis and External Body panels: Sill - rusteaten/holed - Nearside, Offside, Nearside rear, Rear, Offside rear. Seam weld all repairs...........What does this mean?!

906 - Brakes - Brake pipe - corroded/pitted - Nearside rear, Rear, Offside rear. All to and from Flexis..................again can anyone explain?

Now the question you all knew was coming..................is this going to cost us a small fortune to fix? Its a Nissan Almera Premium if that makes any difference?

Thanks
Linz xox

BenL

I hade the brake pipes done on my van (short wheel base citroen relay) recently.

Rear cross beam, front to back pipe and both front wheels came to £200 ish.

Never had any welding done.

I think you have 10 days now to get it repaired for a free retest at the garage.

You can also keep driving your vehicle until the MOT expiry date, after that you can only drive it to a pre-arranged appointment at an MOT station.

More details can be found at http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/OwningAVehicle/Mot/DG_4022108

Premier_2

The vehicle requires patches welded over the corroded areas. This needs to be done in a way that protects the structural integrity of the car, hence seam welds (as opposed to say spot welds)

The flexible brake pipes need renewing. Some of the solid ones may need doing too as rubber doesn't usually corrode/pit

Cost? Well welders don't come cheap especially good ones. Bad ones will probably burn bigger holes than what already exist because of the rust.

It then depends on how good a cosmetic cover up you want.

The brake work will be easy to do - any garage will do that.

Get a couple of quotes for all the work required, but you may be better off getting another car. Once you start welding up cars the welds themselves are prime spots for rapid rust initiation

bigoggy2007

neither of thes thing are a big job.

get a pair of new sills from a motorfactors for about £50, a garage will charge about £50-£70 to weld them on.

get the motorfactor to make up the brake pipes you need, they should cost about £15-£40 depending how many you need, the garage should charge about £50 for fitting, fluid and bleeding.

£200 to keep your car on the road sounds good to me if it is normaly reliable and a good runner

Premier_2

^^^

Great advice if the car was about 50 years old.

However in the modern world, cars dont usually have sill panels anymore - they are usually an integral part of a single bodyside panel.

For the cost of someone spending time making up custom brake pipes to fit, you may as well get the genuine jigged up article from the manufacturer and have them fitted.

LoopyLinz

Ok well I have no idea what a sill panel is but from what I can gather from the other posts this is looking like it could be a wee bit of an expensive job?!

Money we dont actually have...........anyone else see a slight issue here?! Anyway the car is 12 years old and DH has owned it for 2. It cost £1100 and I am beginning to think it doesnt really owe us anything.

Burlesque_Babe

BenL wrote: »

You can also keep driving your vehicle until the MOT expiry date, after that you can only drive it to a pre-arranged appointment at an MOT station.

I thought once it had failed (even if there was time left on the MOT) that it was illegal to drive the car as a fail had been entered (other than back to the garage for the repairs)? Mine failed yesterday (2 constant velocity gaiters split) and the guy confirmed what I already thought about it now being without an MOT ??

the results are now logged straight away - I've just checked the central database and mine read that it has failed

diable

What car is it as some rear brake pipe failures in certain cars means that the petrl tank needs to be removed to fit them.

bigoggy2007

Premier wrote: »

^^^

Great advice if the car was about 50 years old.

However in the modern world, cars dont usually have sill panels anymore - they are usually an integral part of a single bodyside panel.

For the cost of someone spending time making up custom brake pipes to fit, you may as well get the genuine jigged up article from the manufacturer and have them fitted.

strange i could swear we used to sell them at the motorfactor i worked at for 10 years.

they are part of the body but you cut them off and weld new ones on. just like all the cars that have welded on wings, they also get cut off and new ones welded on..

if your going to offer advice, make sure you get your facts right

if i could post links i would have shown you 4 shops where the sills are avaliable

patman99

Does your DH know anyone that welds?, i.e. friend, work mate,relative etc. a pair of pre-formed over-sills should set you back around £0 for a pair. As for the brakes, phone a few garages for a quote.

jeannieblue

Don't panic!

Re the brake pipes - the cost of the pipe is really not alot, its the fitting of them - if they are front to rear, and as said before, sometimes the petrol tank has to be dropped down, they can be time consuming to fit. Ask the garage for a cost for this job.

Sill corroded? Just needs a bit of welding. We use a great guy who charges next to nothing.

It is nothing drastic. I would hazard guess at around £200 (poss more) for the pipes and who knows re the welding - you'll need to get a quote.

And don't buy 'ready made' brake pipes, be they Nissan or pattern - its just an added expense.